


Sparky

by thismidnight



Category: Hunger Games (2012) RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-27 00:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1708172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thismidnight/pseuds/thismidnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jennifer's hosting a surprise party at Josh's without his knowledge. She leaves him to decorate, and he isn't thrilled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sparky

Josh wasn't happy.

Two days ago, after a long day of filming, Jennifer had cornered him as he was trying to make his exit from set with far too much energy after the long day they had both had. He hadn't remembered much of the conversation other than her excitedly gesturing and babbling about an upcoming birthday for one of the production assistants she had made fast friends with. What he managed to remember was that he agreed yes, a party would be so much fun; yes, he would be a part of it; and yes, he was very tired and would like to go home and sleep. He also remembered her hopping around, clapping her hands, and quickly hugging him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and thanking him before she let him go. He wasn't entirely sure why he was being thanked, but he had learned long ago that with Jennifer sometimes it was best not to ask questions.

He was going to have to learn to start asking questions sometimes, especially when he was tired, because that particular conversation was why he was currently sitting on the floor of his rental, blowing up balloons on a Friday night instead of sitting comfortably on his couch with a six pack  enjoying the first Wildcats game of the season. He had just popped open his first beer and turned on the pregame show when Jennifer had barged in, two overflowing paper bags in each arm, making good use of the key he let her have in case of an emergency.

Apparently, as he learned in the bickering match that followed her intrusion, during that conversation two days ago he had agreed to host the birthday party Jennifer had been babbling about at his place. He wasn't entirely sure that was what he had agreed upon, but Jennifer was insistent, and as always, he found it impossible to tell her no. He wasn't happy about the turn of events, but he couldn't turn her away.

She had left him on decoration duty -- another thing he wasn't pleased about, who decorates for parties unless it's for a kid? --  and had taken on the task of scavenging in his kitchen for any food they could put out as appetizers to go with the liquor she had brought. He had told her all she was going to find was a half eaten bag of Pizza Rolls and some ranch dressing and not to waste her time, but apparently she needed to see the sad state of his kitchen herself, told him to start blowing up balloons, and headed into his kitchen to forage. 

He was on his fourth balloon when she walked back in, scowling at him.

"Don't make that face at me," Josh mutters, his eyes focusing on tying the knot on the end of the balloon he had just finished inflating, "I told you I didn't have any food."

"What do you  _eat_  then?" she asks.

Rolling his eyes and reaching for another balloon, he looks up at her. "Food," he deadpans, before bringing the balloon to his mouth to inflate it, a smile forming on his lips around the open end of the balloon.

Jennifer purses her lips and steps over to where he sits on the floor, swatting him on the side of the head with the back of her hand. "Smartass," she mutters, before looking down at the floor to examine the balloons he had blown up so far; all of them laying sadly on the floor, two half inflated.

"Josh!" she exclaims, bending over to pick one of the half inflated ones up, "this isn't even blown up all the way! And they don't float!"

Exasperated, he drops the balloon in his hand, air rapidly escaping from it, throwing his hands up defensively, "Jen, what do you want me to do? I'm blowing them up for you. I don't breathe helium, so there's only so much I can do without a tank."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, I know that. But you could at least blow them up all the way!" she replies, dropping the balloon and watching it glide back to its resting spot on the floor before sighing and turning to head back to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Josh calls after her, craning his neck and watching as she disappears into his kitchen, "I don't think food magically appeared since you walked out of there two minutes ago."

"I'm getting my keys, asshole!" she yells from the kitchen, reappearing seconds later with her keys and purse in hand. "I have to go get some food since there's nothing in there," she says, motioning with her thumb back towards the kitchen.

"Wait," he says urgently, hopping up from his position on the floor. "You're leaving?"

"Well, yeah," she replies, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, "we need some food. We can't put out eight pizza rolls, a bowl of ranch dressing, and a half eaten Chipotle burrito." She narrows her eyes and gives Josh a disapproving look, "I can't believe that's actually all you have. Do you even know how to grocery shop?"

He ignores her question, and steps towards her, "you can't leave, this is your. _.._ thing," he says, motioning around his living room.

"I'm coming back, dummy," she says, shoving his shoulder playfully, "give me fifteen minutes. Finish decorating please. No one should be here until 9."

He opens his mouth to protest, but before he can her eyes suddenly open wide and she waves her hands at him, "Oh! And hang the pinata!"

He feels his jaw go slack and his eyes narrow as he looks at her for a long moment before he's able to reply, his hands moving to rest on his hips as he speaks. "You got a pinata?"

She nods excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet, her eyes sparkling, "it's in the bag with the rest of the decorations! It's not very big." she motions to the bag on the couch, before noticing the expression on Josh's face hasn't changed. She sighs and stops bouncing, tilting her head to the side, her features softening, "oh, come on. Don't give me that look. It'll be fun."

He pinches his eyes closed and brings one hand up to cover them for another long moment before sighing and shaking his head. He doesn't have the strength to fight her anymore, and he knows it's no use anyway, he can't tell her no. "Fine," he replies, uncovering his eyes and forcing a tight smile.

She grins and pulls him into another quick, tight hug before moving away, tossing her purse over her shoulder, thanking him and reminding him to finish the decorations all in one breath before disappearing out his door in a whirlwind.

Laughing to himself under his breath, he turns to survey the situation in his living room. The four balloons he had blown up earlier still lay sadly on the floor, the bag of uninflated balloons resting next to where he had been sitting. Deciding he was temporarily done with the balloons, he instead moves to investigate inside the bag of decorations, and examine the pinata he had been instructed to hang. He sits on the couch next to the bag, peering inside to find more balloons, crepe paper in every color imaginable, party poppers, hats, confetti, a banner reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY in bright letters...  _Jesus, did she buy out a party supply store!?_ he thinks to himself as he paws through the bag, before his hand hits something firm at the bottom.

"Aha!" he exclaims, pulling out the multicolored, horse shaped pinata. He turns it over in his hands, laughing a little again at the ridiculousness of the entire situation before setting the pinata down next to him and turning his attention back to the shopping bag, digging through it again until he finds a bag of candy, and he's almost a little surprised Jennifer remembered that something actually had to go  _in_  the pinata.

Ripping open the bag, he grabs the pinata again, easily locating the flap that opens to allow him to add the candy and begins dropping in handful after handful until the little horse is practically overflowing. Closing the flap, Josh stands and sighs, shifting the pinata to hold it under his arm like a football. "Alright, buddy," he speaks to himself, "where are we gonna hang you?"

Unsurprisingly, there are few places to hang a pinata in his apartment. He weighs several options before finally deciding the best one will be the light fixture on the ceiling down the hallway that connects his bedroom to the rest of the apartment. He drags a barstool from his kitchen down the hallway and climbs up, looping the rope the pinata hangs from through the metal of the decorative fixture, tying a quick knot to hold the horse in place. Once he's satisfied the pinata is securely in place, he steps away slowly and smiles proudly, admiring his handiwork and ingenuity.

He's in the middle of taping crepe paper and balloons to his living room wall when Jennifer returns, two plastic bags hanging from her hands.

"Hey," he mutters through the roll of tape he holds in his mouth, his hands busy taping a long piece of crepe paper to the wall. As he finishes securing it, he turns to look at her, taking the tape out of his mouth so he can speak. "What'd you get?"

She looks down at the bags she holds in her hands, "Typical party stuff. Chips, dips. Crackers. A veggie-" she stops suddenly, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she looks down the hallway towards Josh's bedroom.

"Josh?" she asks, setting her grocery bags down on the floor, and pointing down the hallway, "what's that?"

"What's what?" He asks, moving to look where she's pointing. "Oh! It's the pinata, dummy. I hung it for you, just like you asked," a crooked smile forming on his lips.

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head before speaking, "well, yeah, I know it's the pinata. It's just... why's it hanging from there?"

"Well where else was I supposed to hang it?" he asks innocently.

"Josh!" she shouts, smacking him on the shoulder, "that's not safe! Someone could get hurt with it hanging there!"

"What?! How?!" He exclaims incredulously, "No they won't!"

"Someone could get electrocuted! It could start a fire!" She looks at him, her mouth hanging open.

He scoffs. "So we'll leave that light off while we're hitting it. It'll be fine, trust me. I've hung many pinatas in my time. I'm an expert," he says smugly, waggling his eyebrows at her.

She stares blankly at him for a moment, her mouth drawn in a tight line, before picking up the grocery bags and turning to move back into his kitchen. "Okay then, Mr. Expert. You'll be the one calling 911 tonight when our friends get fried by Sparky the Death Pinata."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to start going through all my one shots and adding them here so I can have them all in one place. I post primarily on Tumblr; I'm splitscreen over there. Check me out for more!


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